Ciel Phantomhive: Demon Hunter
by NoClueKid
Summary: If demons feed on hate and bitterness, love is like a poison in a human's soul. Ciel's drive for revenge against those who wronged him has been eclipsed by his love for Sebastian. Yet Sebastian has no desire for mortal love, nor appetite for a soul infected with it. He leaves, breaking the contract, and Ciel himself. Ciel's heart turns again to revenge. Also features Soma & Agni.
1. That Butler: Absent

(A/N: The filters didn't allow for so many characters, but this story also features Bard, Finni and Mey-Rin, with cameos from Grell, Lao, and Undertaker every now and again. Not Tanaka, though. His character is just so...farcical, and so much of the jokes with him are in an exclusively visual medium...I'm just not going to go there. I think the story is okay without him. Assume he died before the story began or something. I-I'm a horrible person... Scene breaks might be weird/absent; being stubborn.)

. . .

Ciel didn't even look at Soma when he entered, amid a flurry of indecisive protests from the staff. They knew it was their job, their orders, to keep people out. Yet each of them secretly hoped that Soma might do what they could not: evoke any kind of reaction from Ciel whatsoever.

The sight of Ciel, so passive and unmoving, brought Soma up short. His resolve floundered for a moment. The Ciel which Soma remembered had possessed such quiet resolve and genteel bearing. It was so wrong to see him like this; almost catatonic, uncaring that Soma had burst in on him while he was still in bed, with messy hair and wearing nothing but a night-shirt.

"So…I take it the rumors are true, then…?" Soma said, taking his usual straightforward approach to things. "That Sebastian…left you?"

Still nothing. Ciel's eyes were open, but they might have been made of glass for how much life they showed. The silence pressed in on Soma, along with a feeling of unease so strong it was like vertigo. The world was twisting, revolting, falling away and leaving them drifting.

"Ciel…say something, won't you?" He leaned forward, inching his hand towards where Ciel's lay upon the coverlet. "You can talk to me. You know that, right? I can only imagine, if Agni abandoned me…I would probably feel the same way. I under –"

Ciel flinched away from his touch. As if with the flip of a switch, Ciel was animated once more, turning to Soma with a look of pure rage.

"Do not _dare _tell me you understand!"

Soma's breath caught in his throat, not as Ciel's words, but at his eye. It was the first time he had seen Ciel without a patch over the right one. Soma had seen the eyes of the blind before, and had expected something similar, but this…

It looked as though all the veins in Ciel's eye had ruptured. Where it should have been white there were dark, angry blotches and streaks of red. Even his sky-blue iris was hemorrhaged, it's color tainted with blood.

"You understand nothing." Ciel's voice was as cold as the English winter. "Get out."

.

"No luck?" Agni asked, as Soma joined him in the hallway outside Ciel's bedchamber, looking as demoralized.

"I managed to annoy him." Soma said. "That is a change, although if it's for the better or not…"

"You're here, giving support. It might matter eventually, even if it doesn't at the moment."

"I hope he makes it to 'eventually'." The barest hint of a smile showed on Soma's face. "He has the look of a man I saw once, so ready to forsake the world that he seemed to almost welcome death. Ciel has that same…emptiness, that despair, about him."

Agni knew the man who Soma referred to was himself, or rather the man who would become him: Arshad, the sinful, faithless Brahman both deserving and welcoming death. And he had died, in a way. But what did Arshad have to do with Ciel? It would be unfitting of Agni's station to be overly-familiar with Ciel, but he wished he could ask him what was in his mind. Although if anything he, like Soma, would probably just get snapped at for his trouble. Ciel had never been the type to confide in people.

"Do you suspect he…would take his own life?" Agni asked, hesitantly.

"…I'm quite sure he doesn't want to live. What steps he might take I don't know."

Soma turned away, staring out the window at the thin winter sunlight. Agni reflected than he had rarely seen his prince this somber. Agni knew it was uncharitable, but he felt more concern for Soma than Ciel in that moment. First Mina had left Soma in favor of an British husband. Then, quick on the heels of her rejection came the news of her death. And now Ciel? Agni was willing to admit that Soma had certain lessons to learn in maturity, in dealing with loss, sorrow, compromise, but this was too much.

"Why do you suppose he left, anyway?" Soma said quietly, still staring out the window.

Agni didn't need to ask who he meant. He shook his head. "As to that, I have no idea."

"You left me briefly, for own good as you perceived it."

There was no blame or hurt in his voice, but Agni flinched inwardly.

"I have a hard time seeing what good it would do Ciel, driving him to despair." Agni answered.

"Especially when he's been there before, with the death of his family among other things. Maybe this one final loss was just too much."

"Um…excuse me…" Mey-Rin's* face peeked around the corner. "Um, it's not exactly my place, but…I know that the young master would invite you to stay, were he in his right mind…"

"Oh, we wouldn't want to trouble you." Soma said, practicing his new resolution to be less trouble to people.

"No really." Finni's face appeared under Mey-Rin's. "We'd be remiss, really, not to show you hospitality."

"I'm sure you have enough to deal with as it is…" Soma said.

"What they mean to say is," Bard said, emerging fully from around the corner, "is that none of us has eaten a decent meal since Sebastian left."

"Ah, I see." Soma said with a smile. "Agni?"

"Jo anja." Said Agni, smiling also, as he pressed his hands together and inclined his head. "I believe I remember where the kitchen is."

"I'll show ya."

"I-I'll help."

"Can I help too?"

.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair, marred only by the absence of Ciel. Yet darkness seemed to fall prematurely on the Phantomhive manor, bringing with it a damp chill which seemed to settle in their very bones. All of the mansion's occupants turned in early, sheltering beneath layers upon layers of blankets from the oppressive atmosphere. Even sleep, however, was not a refuge.

In his dream, Soma was sitting in his guest bedroom. It was decorated like his palace at home, but it was still very dark and cold, all the colors faded. Mina was there, serving him tea, although something was…off, about the thick, lukewarm liquid she poured into his cup.

"Uh, I understand we had our differences." Soma ventured, grimacing as he took a sip, "but did you really come back from the dead just to poison me?"

"Be quiet and listen." Mina snapped, taking a seat opposite him. "Very soon, a man who is not a man will arrive here. It'd be better for you to be awake when he arrives. Your destiny or something ridiculous like that." She huffed, tossing back her hair with a scowl. "Apparently I _wronged_ you in life. So I'm setting things even now."

"Oh, that's…if you did, I never resented you. I was just sad, the way things turned out. I wish you could have lived happily." He frowned. "So…is this what the tea of the dead tastes like?"

"That's not tea. It's blood."

"Wh…" He coughed, spattering red down his chin, into his hand. He woke up retching, the coppery taste still on his tongue.

"Agni! I –" cough "j-just had the weirdest –" hack "dream!"

.

.

"So what do you think it means?" Soma asked, much later. He sat on the side of Agni's bed, wrapped in one of the quilts.

"I think the news of her death came at a time when you were still struggling with the choice she made. Perhaps it was your mind sorting through unfinished business." Agni spoke with calmness not entirely authentic. He was no mystic, but he found what Soma described more ominous than a run-of-the-mill nightmare.

"It…was so real though." Soma said quietly, drawing the blanket more tightly around him. "I can still almost taste the blood." He grimaced.

"Well, if nothing else then it means you need something to get the taste out."

"Really?" It well-worth getting up at five in the morning to see Soma's face snap from gloomy to beaming.

"Of course. But go put on something warmer first. This is no place for bare feet."

Soma hurried away to his room, which wasn't far. Agni wouldn't have sent him there if it was. He rose from the bed and donned a thick Kurta*, before selecting a loose-fitting Sherwani* to go over it. Underneath, he wore his sword belt. He didn't want Soma spooked over something that might be nothing at all. Nightmares were nightmares; they could seem real enough at times. And yet…this _was _the Phantomhive manor, where far stranger things had been known to happen than a bad dream coming true.

.

. 

As he lit every lamp and candle in the kitchen, Agni reflected to himself that he didn't much care for England. He would never say it aloud, but privately he pined for the warmth of their native homeland. The worst part of it was that Soma himself seemed infected by the cold; although Agni knew there were other factors at play. The longer they stayed, the more Soma changed in ways which Agni found disquieting. His silence as Agni prepared chai, for instance. The Soma to which he was accustomed was quite talkative, about pertinent or silly things in equal measure. He had never been one to let the silence stretch so long, yawn so large around them.

As Agni set a steaming mug in front of Soma, it seemed to jar him from his introspection.

"Can I…that is, I'm going to ask you a question of a personal nature, but you're not obligated to answer it."

"Very well…"

"In your previous life, how did you know when someone's words and actions were sincere, or if they treated you the way they did solely because of your station?"

That was, perhaps, the one thing Agni didn't mind about the recent changes in his liege. For one reason or another, Soma was paying him a lot more attention. It was difficult to admit, even to himself, how much he liked that. How flattering it was when Soma asked him these 'personal' questions.

"The man I was didn't care what was in the hearts and minds of those who served me. I took their devotion as my due, and believed them too far beneath me to be worthy of my care or compassion."

"But you're the kindest man I've ever known."

"It was another life. Another person."

Soma was again silent, mulling it over, then,

"Alright, I get that you didn't _care_, per se, but were you never simply curious? The motives of others must have been relevant on some level."

"To the extent I tried to understand the minds of others, well…my Lord, look at yourself as an example. You're an honest man by nature. Therefore, it shocked you to learn that Mina's words and actions had been so far from the truth of her feelings. You're honest, so you ascribe honesty to others. I was much the opposite. At my core I was deceitful and cruel, so my insight into others was colored by those things. I assumed that everyone lied, as did I, that everyone acted with selfish and sinister motives, as did I."

"But I'm selfish too. Sebastian said – uh, I mean…" Soma had meant to keep that little altercation to himself. He had never been very good at keeping secrets.

"Sebastian said you were selfish? He told you that, to your face?" Agni almost didn't believe it. Sebastian had always struck him as such a devoted servant. It wasn't Sebastian's place to lecture Soma on his shortcomings, just as it wasn't Agni's place to tell Ciel that he thought he was being ridiculous, that just because one's butler went away didn't warrant all this drama.

"He only said it to make me realize what I was doing…" Soma protested weakly, feeling like a school-yard tattletale. "With Mina, and everything…how I cared more about getting what I wanted than what she or, or even you might want…it's hard to explain."

Agni didn't care about Sebastian's reasons. It had still been widely inappropriate. He bit down his irritation. Sebastian was gone, nothing to be done about it now, except remedy the damage. He took a deep breath.

"Becoming a person of insight and compassion is probably the longest journey one can make. If you haven't come as far as you would like, just remember that you're young. You have your entire life to become whatever you want."

"I'm eighteen."

"_Young_."

"You're not that much older!" Soma grinned. "If your life began the day we met, technically _I'm_ older. By a lot."

"And yet I best you every time we spar…"

"My old age makes me frail. Have some respect for your elders."

At that moment the door to the kitchen burst open. Agni's sword was in his hand in the blink of an eye – its point mere inches away from a petrified May-Rin, who let out a high, ear-splitting shriek.

"I'm so sorry, miss May-Rin." Agni said, sheathing his sword, as she sunk to her knees, ashen-faced and trembling. "I thought – never mind, it was a misunderstanding. I'm so very sorry."

"Don't worry about it…" May-Rin said in a shaky voice. Agni offered her a hand and pulled the maid to her feet once more.

"Share some chai with us, now that you're good and awake." Soma said, patting the chair next to him.

"T-thanks, uh…are you expecting someone to attack you?" May-Rin asked, sitting down and accepting a cup from Agni. Before either of them could answer, a third man burst into the kitchen, holding…yes, that was rocket launcher on his shoulder.

"It was a misunderstanding, Bard!" May-Rin said hastily. "No one's attacking me!"

"Christ, why're you screaming in the middle of the bloody night then?" Bard said, setting the weapon aside and drawing out a cigarette.

"Want some chai?" Soma offered.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I love that stuff." Bard said, forgetting his complaints and his rocket launcher, coming to sit beside Mey-Rin.

"So…" Agni muttered to himself, "now there's just –"

"Hey," came Finni's sleepy voice from the hallway, "what's with all the – eep!" With a shriek and a clatter, Finni tripped over the abandoned rocket launcher, causing it to detonate and blast a hole through three walls.

.

"Young master is going to be so mad…" May-Rin wailed, later, when most of the flames had been put out. Agni noted that the staff of the Phantomhive manor were unusually practiced at fire-control.

"Recon he's got more on his mind that interior decorating at the moment." Muttered Bard, lighting a cigarette on a curtain which was still smoldering. "Could fire that thing right into his bedroom and I doubt he'd blink, the way he's been."

"Don't say that." Finni said, looking on the verge of tears, as he doused the embers in the curtain with yet another bucket of water.

"It's true though." Mey-Rin put in sadly, sweeping some debris out of the walkway. "Ever since Sebastian left…this place is a tomb, and our master is dead inside it."

"And…none of you know _why_ he left?" Soma asked, putting forth the question he'd been longing to ask.

"No."

"Nope."

"No idea."

"It wasn't as though he confided in any of us though." Finni added.

"Neither of them did. Sebastian, or Ciel." Mey-Rin said.

"They kept things pretty quiet between them." Bard said. "Bet my life we never knew half of what went on in this place."

That stuck out, to Agni. He alone among them had experienced the world from both sides: the lord and the vassal, the servant and the served. He'd come to realize that, generally, the staff in a household knew more about what went on there than those in charge. And it wasn't as though the three were trustworthy. Haphazard at times, but clearly loyal.

Just what was it in this place that had been such a secret?

He had no time to ponder the mystery further, however, for at that point there came a distant but loud sound – the front door being broken open, if Agni had to guess.

"I, uh, don't suppose that was Ciel…" Soma said in a would-be calm voice.

Agni drew his sword once more.

.

. 

The demon raised its nose and sniffed the air. The place reeked of its own kind, yet if the rumors were true, the mighty Sebastian had lately abandoned this place, this latest quarry. If that was true, the human which Sebastian had selected as his prey, his _delicacy,_ was unguarded – except by other humans, of course, but of what concern were they?

There were several human smells in the manor as well, none of them of particular interest to a demon except one. This had to be the young Earl, and it seemed like he was upstairs.

.

.

Ciel spent his days lately in a purgatory of neither slumber nor wakefulness. He was always tired, dead tired, and yet the oblivion of sleep was denied him. Even in the few, brief spans of time he did manage to drop off, his dreams were nothing but more of the same: emptiness.

Whatever small part of him which still functioned resented the stream of concerned well-wishers who paraded past his bed. None of them were Sebastian, and were offensive to him in that. He hated every person in the world, for not being Sebastian.

He hated Sebastian too.

He hated himself.

Distantly, he was aware of sounds from the kitchen, which happened to be right below his room. The almost inaudible murmur of Soma and Agni's conversation, Mey-Rin's scream, Bard and Finni's arrival, and the resulting disaster. He could almost picture the events which went along with the sounds, like a movie in his mind. They were all so…predictable. Tedious. _Human_.

_And I'm worse. I'm more a predictable, tedious, human fool than all of them combined. _

He fell into a shallow, restless sleep, and dreamed the same dream he had for several days now. He stood at the top of the stairs in the entry hall, watching the tall double-doors of his house, waiting for Sebastian to come through them.

Usually that was all it was: the waiting. This time, however, something moved in the dream. It was almost as though the walls of his manor were transparent. He could clearly perceive someone walking up the path towards the door…was it Sebastian? It _seemed _like Sebastian somehow…

The doors flew open – no, they were broken apart. He felt his joy petrify.

Not Sebastian.

Just a lot…like him…

Demon.

Ciel woke already sitting up. The world had seemed like tissue-paper gauze around him during his ennui, but now it was the opposite. His senses were almost painfully piqued, every detail of sight, sound, hearing, touch, flooded in on him. He thought he had woken at a loud noise, but everything was so quiet now. The silence pressed in on his ears. Had it really been just a dream? No, he wasn't naïve enough to believe it.

He realized that he was afraid. How could that be, when he had all but begged God or the Devil to take his soul, if Sebastian didn't want it any more? If he was going to meet his end, though, he didn't want it to be like this. If not by Sebastian's hand, then Ciel wanted his death to be easy, painless. Pain had been his life, his death was supposed to be an _escape _from that…

Before he had time to move or think anything else, the door to his room was pushed slowly open with a long creek.

_Sebastian needs to oil that door…_Was the single, absurd thought in Ciel's head as he looked at it, this new demon come to devour his soul.

It was indeed similar to Sebastian, even to look at, and it made Ciel's heart ache with something more than fear. Its hair was raven-black, but long, hanging lank and tangled to its waist. Its skin was a pale gleam in the darkness, its body waif-thin, wiry and sexless beneath its dark, threadbare clothing. Its eyes, boring into Ciel's from beneath the mane of filthy hair, glowed a deep blood-red.

"Ssso," it said, stepping into his room. Its voice had a sibilant quality. "Thisss is Sebastian's meal of choice. Apparently ssssullied somehow, but far be it from me to find fault. You ssssmell better than my usual fare, at any rate."

It licked its lips with a long, forked tongue.

"We have no contract!" Ciel was far from an expert, but if Sebastian had needed one in order to devour him, surely it applied to this seemingly lesser creature.

It laughed. "Lad, do you think I can't make your promissse me anything?" It held out one hand, its nails sharp and dirty. "Sssssoon you'll be begging for an end to your ssssuffering in any matter whatsoever."

The horrible thing was, Ciel knew the creature was right.

It happened so quickly that both Ciel and the demon itself were caught by surprise. Suddenly, there was a good six inches of sword protruding from the demon's chest, the metal stained with the creature's dark blood. It looked down, mouth open slightly.

"Wh –"

The sword withdrew, coming up in a lightning-quick ark, to sever the demon's head from its shoulders. More dark blood spurted from the wound, as the creature's head, then the rest of it, fell to the floor.

Standing behind the demon was Se –

No, it was Agni, although Ciel's eyes had actually made him into Sebastian for a moment. Strangely, in that moment Ciel didn't resent him for who he wasn't. Ciel was glad, that he had been there. And it made it so much worse, knowing they were all about to die.

"Who was that?" Soma asked, peeking in from around the door.

"More like _what _was that." Agni said quietly, more to himself than to Soma or Ciel.

"It's a demon!" Ciel's voice sounded strange in his own ears. "It isn't dead!"

Even before he had finished speaking, the creature lunged, lashing out at Agni with a vicious, inhuman snarl. He moved, barely in time, and the thing's razor claws raked his leg rather than grabbing it and bringing him down, as had probably been its intention.

"Run!"

Ciel did, leaping out of bed and running to the door, but he didn't get much father than that. In the hallway, as sounds of the fight continued in the bedroom behind them, Ciel grabbed Soma's upper-arms.

"Call him off!" Ciel said.

"Are you crazy?!" Soma said. "It'll kill us!"

"It will kill _me, _Soma, and Agni can't kill it! It's here for me, and I can't let you die because of what I've –"

Soma slapped Ciel. Not especially hard, but the shock alone was enough to silence him.

"You're my friend! I'm not leaving you to die!"

"Well I-I'm not your friend! I hate you!" He gestured wildly in the direction of the door. "Take your servant and get out!"

"Ciel…you're crying…"

"I am not! I don't…" his voice broke over something that _wasn't _a sob, damn it! "I don't want to die after all..."

What a time for that realization.

It was Soma's turn to grip Ciel. "Think! You recognized it as demon. What else do you know? Is there _any_ way a human might kill it?"

Ciel was about to say no. But his mind skipped all the steps of logic and raced to an epiphany that surprised even him.

"There might be a way…"

It was a very long story*, how the weapons of two fallen Shinigami had come into Ciel's possession. At that time, Ciel had never entertained the thought of using them – he had a demon as a weapon, after all, what more could he need? – but he knew their value, their rarity, and had opted to keep them. And even Sebastian had been wary of Shinigami in the past, seeming to believe that one could at least potentially kill him. Could their weapons be used to the same effect by a human? Ciel had no time to wonder.

"Wait here! Buy as much time as you can!"

"What are you –?"

But Ciel was already tearing down the hallway towards the basement, where the weapons had been stored. How long would it take? Could he even find them? If he did, would it work?

.

.

"STOP DOING THAT, DAMN IT!"

"No." Agni severed one more of the demon's limbs – its arm, this time, only to have it regenerate from a dark aura which the creature seem to emanate.

"What the hell is your problem?!" It raged, seizing the leg of a demolished chair and swinging it like a club. "Just leave me the brat and sssave yourself!"

"No."

"Sstop just saying 'no' all the fucking time! What are you, retarded?!"

"Fine." Agni bisected the creature's makeshift club with a deft slice. "Shall I tell you, then, about how I went against Sebastian in a sword fight, and was his equal? I assume he was a demon, as you are. Yet you are not half the opponent he was."

It scowled for a moment, and then grinned at him with sharp fangs. "Correct. And that little boy you've just given your life for was willingly cooperating with him. You're a decent sssword fighter, but you have shitty taste in friendssss."

Agni raised his sword once again and swung at the demon's neck, which was wide open –

Only it wasn't the demon anymore.

It was Soma.

"Idiot human." It knocked the sword out of his motionless hand in one quick blow. A swift knee to his ribs knocked the wind out of him. As he doubled up, gasping, he heard the demon pick up his sword.

"So sssily, human fixation on appearance." It smiled at him with Soma's face; teeth still too-sharp, as it pointed his own sword at him. "I ssshall tell you, as a parting gift, that my kind can change their sssshape at will. Something for you to ponder in the netherworld."

It was Agni's turn to grope in the rubble for a makeshift weapon. He came up with a brass candelabra – not bad, considering – yet it might as well have been pillow for how well he could use it, as long as the creature had that appearance. It advanced on him, now-amber eyes glittering with malicious delight, as he backed away, going from Ciel's bedroom to the adjoining parlor. It lunged. He countered, but the sword slid around like a snake and opened a gash on the back of his hand.

Then, out of nowhere, May-Rin of all people appeared, driving a kitchen knife down to the hilt in the creature's back. She seemed so different somehow. Perhaps it was the absence of her large spectacles.

"You might look like lord Soma." She said. "But you'll never fool _my_ eyes."

It hissed, and its appearance shifted back to its original with the ease of flowing water. With the same ease, it grabbed her and hurled her across the room like a child throwing a rag-doll. She hit the wall and slid down it, lying in a motionless heap on the floor.

It was Agni's turn to attack, and he made much of his makeshift bludgeon, but the demon had the superior weapon. Also, his skin burned strangely where the creature's blood had fallen on him. He aimed a crushing blow at the creature's ribs, breaking more than one of them by the sound of it, but in the moment while his weapon was occupied, it cut him from his shoulder down to his mid-stomach. It wasn't deep – a slice rather than a gouge – but _he_ didn't regenerate.

"You're getting a tad sssslow." It remarked, as they moved again across the floor, exchanged jabs and parries. "It might have ssssomething to do with my blood being poisonous to mortals."

It came at him again. As if at the demon's pronouncement, his body was tiring. It crossed his mind for the first time that he would likely die here, for Ciel's life rather than Soma's, except by coincidence. Goodness, he wished they were both safe back in India. He consoled himself with the thought that, with luck, Soma soon would be. His prince had grown a great deal since coming here. Agni had to believe that he would be alright, on his own.

As if the thing could perceive his thoughts, it shifted back to Soma's countenance again. Agni wasn't sure if he was glad or horrified, that this profane imitation would be last thing he would see.

"Let's end thisss."

It lunged at him one final time, giving everything it had. He countered the thrusts of its stolen sword once, twice, three times, until with a terrible strength it knocked the candelabra from his grip. The sword leapt up, right at his face, and his world went dark.

Blood was in his eyes when he opened them again. He lay on his side on the floor, and his hands were bound and fixed to something, although he couldn't tell exactly what. His head was agony, and he realized the demon must have struck him with the sword's blunt side, aiming to stun rather than to kill.

The demon was standing over him, wearing its dark-haired, pale-skinned form once again.

"You cosssst me the Phantomhive boy!" It kicked him, hard, in the ribs. "And you don't ssssmell nearly as good as he did!" Another kick. Then the demon dropped to its knees beside him. "But, wassste not, want not, as they ssssay. Let's see what kind of meal _you'll_ make."

It wiped a bit of blood from his brow and licked the red drops from its fingers. Then it began to retch like a cat with a hairball.

"Oh f-fuck…what the hell…fuck, are you ssssome kind of monk or sssomething?!" It started licking its own tattered shirt, its hair, anything to get rid of the taste of all that…all that disgusting _love_ and honor and devotion. There was a certain degree of lust there as well, but not nearly insidious enough to make the rest bearable.

Agni supposed that was a good thing, being unappetizing to a demon. It boded well for his soul in the afterlife. But then, something worse than death happened.

Soma entered the fray. Soma, who was supposed to be long gone at this point, was supposed to be on his way back to a safe, happy life in their homeland, smashed a vase over the demon's head as it gagged and spit.

He moved quickly, Agni would give his prince that, as he darted around and grabbed Agni's sword from where it had fallen, attempting to cut whatever the demon had used to bind Agni's wrists. The demon recovered all too quickly, leaping at Soma where he knelt. The force knocked Soma over and out of Agni's line of sight. It was hell itself, to hear what he couldn't see, the sounds of a scuffle, Soma's cry of pain. Hell, to be powerless to intervene.

Presently, it dragged Soma back into his view. The prince was bleeding from his mouth, and the arm by which the demon wasn't dragging him was hanging limp at his side. Nonetheless, Soma's eyes were still open, teeth still set in determination.

"Sorry." He said to Agni, twisting against the monster's grip. "I guess I only dragged things out." His voice was grim, but he winked, so that the demon couldn't see it.

"Sssso," it sneered, looking down at the thrashing Soma and then back over to Agni, "this is the one who makes your blood flow with all that sickening adoration? But there's more to it than that, issssn't there? Don't your kind call it an abomination, that type of desire?"

"The only abomination is your smell." Soma said through gritting teeth. The demon twisted Soma's wrist in such a way that he grunted in pain and sank to his knees.

"Ssilence! We're going to have a bit of fun, the two of usss. We're going to give your friend a little sssshow."

It smirked, and Agni knew what was going to happen, felt it like the thing had kicked him in the gut again. Its form was changing again, not to Soma's this time but to Agni's own. Soma stopped moving, seemed to stop breathing. For the first time he looked truly afraid.

_Gods, please, anything but this…_

His mirror-image leaned down, and its horrible dark tongue emerged, lathing Soma's face, his ear, his neck. At the same time, with its free hand it ripped the delicately embroidered silken Kurta which Soma wore, revealing his smooth, honey-toned flesh beneath. Soma looked as though he might faint; his eyes squeezed shut, face a mask of fear and revulsion.

"Hmm, it doesn't ssssem like he returns your feelings." The demon mocked. It raked its nails up Soma's torso, leaving red-running gashes in its wake. Soma tired, and failed, not to scream.

There was a deafening _boom_, as Bard's rocket launcher was detonated for the second time that night, and the wall next to them exploded in a cloud of smoke and fire.

In the moment of shock, Soma wrenched himself from the demon's grip and, stumbling the in smoke, ran to Agni's side once more. At the same time, Finni came dashing out of the haze and tackled the demon.

Agni wasn't going to question it, how a short, skinny boy who looked barely older than Ciel had the strength to get the demon in an arm lock. Finni had mentioned something about being quite strong, but _this _was beyond anything Agni had imagined. He leapt to assist, once Soma had finished untying him. Between the two of them, they got the creature to the ground and restrained. Thankfully, it had reverted to its initial form once again.

"Hold it down!" Ciel's voice emerged from the smoke, followed closely by Ciel himself. Still dressed only in a nightshirt and holding a sword much to long for him, it was amazing how the boy suddenly commanded every ounce of respect due his title.

"And what are you going to do?!" The demon raged, struggling ineffectually against Finni and Agni. "You don't have Sebasssstian to hide behind anymore, you weak, cowardly hu –!"

"Shut up!" Ciel brought his blade down in a high arc, almost bisecting the demon at the waist.

Ciel had been correct in his guess that, even when wielded by a human's hand, the weapon of a shinigami would be sufficient to kill a demon. What Ciel had not taken into account, however, was the particular side-effect of a death brought about by that weapon: the soul's record, which displayed like reels of film from a projector, when a shinigami's blade takes a life.

Unlike any of the others, Ciel was not surprised by the phenomena himself. He'd seen it before, after all, when the shinigami Grell had cut down his aunt right before his eyes. Perhaps he had merely assumed that nothing he could see therein would surprise him.

The existence of a demon, as recorded by the creature's own point of view. The words 'terrible', 'horror', 'evil', they are mockery, jesters in their pathetic attempts to describe it. After everything Ciel had seen, had lived through, even now that he no longer cared to live at all…it seemed no matter how low he fell, a chasm yet lower would yawn beneath him.

None of them moved or made any sound as the memories played out all around them. Logic would dictate that they should have done something, anything, _everything -_scream, cry, rage, turn and flee from the terror. Yet the sight rendered each of them as frozen statue, an icon of fear and disgust and even something akin to awe. Physically proximal to each other, yet locked for that moment in the nightmare worlds of their individual perception.

After what seemed like an eternal view of hell, it ended. And somehow, it was still the same day, the same hour, even. A gaping whole had been ripped in the fabric of each of their minds in no more than minutes.

In the profound silence which ensued, Ciel noticed the sun was rising. Hard not to, as Bard had blown out half the wall that separated his bedroom from the outdoors. The colors of sunrise were first thing, since Sebastian had left, that Ciel had really _seen_. It would be wrong to say it made him happy, although it didn't make him sad. It was as if there was no more Ciel, only a quiet room full of early sunlight. He was person already broken, torn and ruptured by life in countless ways. If what he had just seen had been the end of him, had destroyed whatever remained, then there was nothing of him left to be happy at the sight of sunlight. But the sunlight itself seemed happy. The sky outside was bright and clear. He became these things, climbed out of whatever remained of his shell and simply vanished.

Agni was the first to move. His suffering only reminded him of Soma's suffering, which must be worst than his, because Soma was innocent, naïve and unworldly. If that had sickened Agni to his very soul, than how much worse it must be for his prince.

Soma had neither moved nor spoken. Indeed, to look at him one might believe he would never move nor speak again. That was something of Agni's fear as he knelt before Soma, who was looking right at him and yet right through him. Agni, unlike many, did not think that Soma was weak, and yet…the strength to see something like that and not shatter, mind and soul…it wasn't the sort of strength his prince ought to have – not something he ought to _need_. That vacancy behind Soma's eyes was ghastly. It reminded Agni…well, it reminded Agni of Ciel, whose eyes were like closed doors behind which untold galleries of sorrow waited. Soma had always admired Ciel, but Agni would never wish Soma to be _like _Ciel. To Agni's mind, it would be like trading the radiance of the sun for the pale, aloof face of the waning moon.

Under normal circumstances, he would not have had the impudence to do such a thing. In anxiety bordering on despair he raised one hand and laid it against the side of Soma's face, his touch soft and tentative as the beating of a moth's wings against entrapping fingers. Soma's eyes slid into focus. He blinked rapidly and tried to speak, but the word got tangled in his throat. Tears glistened to life in his eyes, and he reached out with his one good arm to Agni. The barriers which divided master and servant were dwarfed by the enormity of what had just befallen all of them, so Agni held his young prince, and Soma wailed and wailed, high and loud like a child. Agni could only be relived. As bad as this was, at least Soma was reacting like a human might be expected.

In the background, Finni was crying too, more quietly. Bard lit a cigarette with shaking fingers, muttering and cursing under his breath. But Ciel sat still and silent as a doll. Agni felt a pang of sorrow for the young Englishman, but he knew – they all knew – that wherever Ciel was, wherever Ciel had always been, was far beyond their reach.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Ciel spoke. His voice was strange, monotone and halting, and his eyes still stared off into nothingness, and yet...

"For the love of God, Soma, can't you _ever_ act your age?"

Angi couldn't swear to it, but he thought he heard Soma laugh in the midst of his sobs.

At the same time, Mey-Rin stirred feebly. Bard and Finni made their unsteady ways over to her, concerned but not knowing how to help.

"Well?" Ciel said, impatient. "Bard, if you're not hurt, go call a doctor. Finni, cover her up with a blanket. Keep her warm."

.

.

Ciel told the police that there had been a break in, and refused to say anything else. Finni and Bard affirmed this story, while Soma and Agni simply pretended not to speak any English. May-Rin was so high on morphine no one paid her much attention. She was by far the worst-injured; with two broken ribs, a broken arm and clavicle, and a concussion. The doctor predicted, however, that she would recover. Soma's arm also turned out to be broken, although less severely. Agni had needed thirty stitches on his torso, and several more on his hand and leg.

The Phantomhive manor itself was in a sorry state. As if the wreckage from the fight and general lack of care following Sebastian's departure had not been enough, the police had tracked mud all over the beautiful rugs. Finni had tried to clean this up and had ended up creating a small flood. In general, the occupants were busy enough coping with the aftermath to spare much thought to their normal duties.

The exception to this was Agni, who managed to carry out at least some of his usual tasks. So, at least none of them went hungry. But the majority of his energy was spent in anxious attendance to Soma, who had been in an almost unceasing condition of hysteria following the incident.

Agni had to believe that this was Soma's way of getting through it. Because if it _wasn't_, if he wasn't getting better through all this grief…Agni doubted he could muster the will to even feed himself. Soma was the way he dealt with what had happened. Soma was the good in his life, his salvation. For Soma, Agni would bare all of it with grace. He would have done it all again, if he could have taken back Soma's part in it.

Upon bringing dinner to Soma's room, Agni found that the young man had quieted down somewhat, although his eyes were still red-rimmed and he sniffed loudly every few seconds.

"Prawns in green curry." Agni informed his rather despondent prince as he set the bowl on Soma's bedside table.

"I can't ever live in peace, knowing creatures like that exist."

It was one of the first coherent things Soma had said in some time. Agni glanced at him. He was sitting up, cross legged with the quilt wrapped around him and his arms around a pillow.

"Your highness, we've lived in peace from them every day before this one. And I can't imagine any of those low creatures would seek revenge for the sake of their fallen kin. What I'm saying is, there is no reason to believe we won't live every day after this in the same peace we lived before."

"Agni…you know that our – that my caste, the Brahmans, are supposed to be avatars of God, the earthly embodiment of divine justice."

Agni wasn't sure what it had to do with the subject at hand, but he wasn't sorry for the change of topic. "You've been that to me, from the day we met. The day of my birth."

"But it won't shock you to hear me say that, generally, that's not how the highest class actually conducts itself."

"No. The man I was before I met you was proof enough of that."

"And yet you see that divinity in me?"

"Of course."

Soma smiled, but it was strangely wan. "Then what else can I do, to be worthy of your devotion, than carry out that divine justice? How can I live, knowing monsters like that are at large in the world? Ever since I met Ciel, I've striven to grow beyond my role of naïve, spoilt prince. Now I see the path I have to take. And I know I'll never live in peace again." Tears began to leak from his eyes once more.

Agni made as if to grab Soma, but restrained himself at the last moment.

"My lord – that's…that's not for you to do, that…this…undertaking you seem to be referring."

"If not me than who?"

Agni could only stare. This was Soma, then – red-eyed, runny-nosed and terrified –grown into a man, apparently in less than a day. Agni should have been glad, but instead there was only a deep, aching melancholy.

"That is a task for the gods themselves, not in human form but incarnate on earth. It isn't right."

"Justice doesn't become less just because it's difficult. What do you think I've been weeping about all day?" There was again that strange, rueful smile, so unlike him. "I have never felt so scared, or so weak. But if those things can't stop me, your concern certainly can't. I _am_ rather selfish, after all. But please, know that I don't…" He bit his lip, uncertain, "that you're not compelled by bonds of servitude to join me in this folly."

Agni was so shocked he hardly remembered proper decorum. Hastily, he pressed his palms together and bowed his head. "I would follow you to hell." It was his turn for a bitter smile. "It seems I _will_ follow you to hell. If you insist on doing this, it would be hell for me not to be at your side."

"That's a relief. I'd probably get myself gutted in five minutes flat without your help."

"My lord, please don't put it that way…"

Agni's eyes sought refuge in the open window, the sunset quickly fading to night. Here was Soma doing an honorable thing – the _most _honorable thing, one might say. Why could Agni not be happy for his new, sober maturity?

"You look dead tired." Soma's voice brought him back from his gloomy thoughts. "And you were wounded too. You should have been taking care of yourself today rather than me, I'm sorry."

"I'm quite alright. Not up to fighting another monster, perhaps, but perfectly able to fix dinner."

"Well, take the rest of the night off, regardless. And tomorrow too."

"That's really not necess –"

"That's an _order_. You're to rest." A smirk played across Soma's lips. "And it will be even more time off if you complain about it."

Agni couldn't help but return the smile, although the warmth he felt was quickly suffocated by a worse thought: did Soma not want him around, after what the demon had said? What it had done, or at least tried to do, while wearing Agni's likeness? The thought made him feel ill with shame. It was difficult to tell – possibly, Soma believed the creature had simply been lying. Agni, however, couldn't deny that there had been some truth behind that horror. He didn't want to hurt Soma…he would rather die…but he did _want _him.

"Jo anja." He replied, bowing his head, before standing up and taking his leave. Perhaps some time apart would do them both good.

.

.

In the basement, Ciel paced like a caged animal, the Shinigami sword still in his hand. When he had used it to kill the demon, his body had been bolstered by a massive surge of adrenalin. Now, in a state of relative calm, Ciel could barely carry the thing, let along swing it like he had. It was nothing like the practice swords he used for fencing. He tried to raise it, arm shaking. What would it take, to be able to really make use of this? Might his arms fall off first?

He couldn't set it down, any more than he could go upstairs or go to bed. For just a few moments – a few awful, traumatizing, disturbing moments – he had wanted so much to live.

The feeling had ebbed steadily ever since. Having to deal with Aberline and Scotland Yard had just about killed the last bit of that intoxicating rush, dulled it down with the tedium of banal, pointless, Sebastian-free life. Still, he clung to the lingering traces.

Slowly, a thought, an idea, drifted up from the depths of his mind. It wasn't much of a surprise; after all, he was obsessed with two things: Sebastian, and the blade he currently held in his hand. He wasn't even sure when he realized, but somehow the notion dawned on him.

They say that love and hate are not opposites. They are, in fact, brothers; a hairsbreadth apart on the continuum of emotions. Ciel wasn't good at love, but he was very good at hate. And to hate Sebastian was better than to feel nothing for him, since to feel nothing for Sebastian would mean feeling nothing at all.

Ciel turned the blade so it reflected his own mis-matched eyes.

Better to meet Sebastian someday in battle than to live a peaceful life so horribly empty of him. And if Sebastian killed him, well, what better death could Ciel hope for? And if Ciel died somewhere along the way before he ever got that far – which he probably would, honestly – at least the rest of his life wouldn't be spent wasting away here, watching his mansion slowly crumble around him.

_If I'll never have your heart…if you never had a heart to give…why not take your life? _

Someone laughed, and Ciel's hair was disturbed by a breeze which the basement shouldn't have. He spun in the direction of the sound, hair

It was Grell, dressed in his usual fire-truck red, reclining on a pile of broken furniture like a pin-up girl.

"Good evening, young master Phantomhive. You seem to be handling the breakup well." The Shinigami had the audacity to wink at him.

Ciel raised the sword as best he could with his aching, exhausted arms. "And now that _he's _gone you're here to settle a score?" Ciel felt twin rushes of fear and excitement. Never mind the fact that Grell had a chainsaw which had once nearly killed Sebastian; Ciel would have dove into any fight at that moment, however ill-advised.

"Oh my, no need to be so hasty." Grell said, shifting artfully into a sitting position. "I'm here on business rather than pleasure. It's come to our attention that you've gotten your little hands on company property." He motioned at the weapon Ciel held.

Ciel narrowed his eyes. "So your people lose their own property, and I use it to do your job for you? And now you have the audacity to ask for them back." He was half-hoping to provoke Grell in some way.

"Sounds about right, yes." Grell said, examining his nails.

Ciel scowled. "And what if I don't give it up willingly? Are you to kill me before my time if I refuse?"

Grell did look at him then, a long look with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"You have two options, Ciel. One," Grell held up an immaculately manicured finger, "you refuse to cooperate, and I call for reinforcements. Death is among many possibilities you could look forward to. Or…" smirking, he held up a second finger, "you give me those blades in return for what I'm about to offer you, and neither of us speaks about it again."

"Depends on what you're offering." Ciel said, with some trepidation.

Seemingly from out of nowhere, Grell drew an enormous, ancient-looking tomb, bound in leather and what looked like silver. "Ever heard of the Necronomicon?"

"Some kind of occult text." Ciel said, managing to sound disinterested.

"Cheap knock-offs, most of them. Any two-bit charlatan toying with black magic can write a book and call it that, but _this_," he ran his fingers along the spine like a caress, "is the real deal."

"And what do you suppose I'd want with that? I'm no two-bit charlatan, as you put it."

"It tells how to kill demons by various means." There was that maddening smirk again. "What, you think I can't perceive your thirst for revenge? You practically reek of it."

Ciel glanced from Grell's face to the book, then back again.

"Why give this to me? Why do me any favors?"

"You think it's a favor, sending you off on a quest to hunt monsters? So be it, I owe you a 'favor'. To be honest though, it isn't really about that. I'm not sure I want to see you succeed in your revenge, but it would be highly entertaining to see you give it a good try. Love and hate, sex and death. I just love the drama!" Grell feigned a swoon.

Ciel rolled his eyes. "I'd ask you to promise on your honor, but I'm not sure if that would do me any good."

"I swear on my love." Grell held out the book to him. "If you ever do meet Sebby again, tell him this gift of hate was from me."

.

.

(A/N: I was a little surprised when this plot bunny popped into my head, because although I did enjoy Kuroshitsuji, it wasn't one of the series I was OMGOBSESSED!11 with. For a long time I tried to put it out of my mind for that reason, but it wouldn't go away. It doesn't help that I was taking anatomy this term, in which the name for cell body is "soma". It just wouldn't leave me alone. And of course I always get epically inspired during mid-terms/finals. Be warned, though: I might not continue this fic. I have more events in mind and maybe even an ending, but I might never get there. It just depends on my muses. That being said, some notes on various things:

*Mey-Rin/May-Rin/Maylene...? I don't even...

*Kurta (from Wikipedia): A generic term used in South Asia for several forms of upper garments for men and women, with regional variations of form.

*Sherwani (from Wikipedia): A long coat-like garment worn in South Asia.

*The weapons and the characters they came from are from the Kuroshitsuji Musical 2: The Most Beautiful Death in the World. You should try and watch it if you can, it is AMAZING. That being said, I don't think either Eric or Allan's weapons are technically classified as swords, but they're long bladed weapons and I don't know what the heck else to call them. I'll probably go back and figure it out eventually, but I feel like it right now.

More:

We ARE going to find out more about what happened between Ciel and Sebastian, but not yet. Sebastian will be in the fic eventually.

I was totally picturing Envy from FMA while writing the demon XD

I know it's not exactly cannon for Agni to carry/fight with a sword, but it doesn't go against it either...

Okay, I think that's in for the notes. Thanks for reading!)


	2. Shinigami Soap-Opera

(A/N: Jeeze, I am addicted to symbolik dreams. Although the one's you're about to read is more like a nightmare on steroids because...demon-magic and...stuff. Also, most chapters won't be as long as the first ones, just FYI. This chapter is very un-edited, so I apologize for it being riddled with typos like the last one.)

.

Upon returning to his room, Agni fell asleep immediately, but his slumber was not restful. His subconscious painted a garish scene around his dreaming self: the home of his previous life; corpulent in its ostentatious decadence. He felt unclean simply being there again. And that was not the worst of it. The demon he had just assisted in killing was there as well, wearing Soma's shape once more. The two of them lay on a wide couch, intertwined most intimately.

"Get off me!" He tried to separate their bodies, but the thing clung onto him.

"You wouldn't dream it if it wasn't what you want."

"You are not what I want."

"I'm the closessst you'll get." With a surge of unholy strength, the creature forced him onto his back, straddling his hips. "You know he wass in love with Mina." It whispered in his ear, before nibbling the lobe. "And he'll love another woman after her. He'll have a proper wife someday. The love you offer would only defile him. Ssso defile me." Kisses along his neck. "Everything you've ever wanted to do to him, do it to me."

Its fingers trailed down his bare chest, and lower, stroking him through the thin fabric of his loose pants. His body was quite aroused at that point, although his heart was screaming that it was all wrong. He grit his teeth against a moan as it gripped his length, smiling at him with Soma's eyes, Soma's mouth. Nothing had ever felt so good, or so horrible. It wasn't what he wanted, and yet he felt powerless to deny it. In that moment he was a slave to his own sins. And if it was his own dream, his own filthy desires, better to resolve them here than let them carry over into his waking life, his actual Soma.

He reversed their positions, wrapping his fingers in the imitation's hair and bringing their mouths together once more.

It whimpered and jerked away from him. When he looked into its face once more, he knew somehow that this was no longer any doppelganger in his arms.

There was a mirror beside the bed, and the dream's point of view was warped so that Agni could see his image in it, even as he looked down at Soma, almost like he was viewing a play while simultaneously being an actor in it. He realized his hair was long again, as it had when he had been Arshad. But it was the sight of his eyes that terrified him most, gone dark and cold with lust and greed. The image terrified him, but he couldn't look away. Because to look away from himself would be to look at Soma – Soma struggling, crying, please, stop it! But he wouldn't stop. Arshad had heard that plea before, and it had never stopped him before.

The dream shattered around him like the windshield of a crashing car. Pain lanced through him, worst in his leg where the thing had clawed him, although everywhere the demon's blood had touched him now radiated pain. He had washed it off most thoroughly, of course, but what did it matter? The demon's vice had taken root in his own. His very blood was septic with it.

.

Ciel spent the rest of the night, and a good portion of the morning, pondering the book. He seemed to have journeyed through exhaustion and emerged on the other side as a being that had no need of sleep. His eyes burned and he felt slightly dizzy, but not tired anymore.

The most interesting thing about the book was that, although it was among the thickest he had ever seen, it seemed to hold even more pages than its girth promised. He had but to open any section, and it seemed to expand indefinitely beneath his fingertips. He didn't think that the knowledge therein was infinite exactly, but the book had come from a God of Death. Why wouldn't it have supernatural qualities?

The ability to shift its mass was handy, but in other ways the book was less accommodating. In terms of writing style, it reminded him unpleasantly of many textbooks he had been forced to study. The subject matter was more interesting, yes, but the tone was just as dry and academic. Plus, the content was so laden with unfamiliar words and phrases that to look up one thing lead to questions about ten others. It had an index, thankfully, and most of Ciel's time was spent flipping back and forth to it. He could tell that a person might spend all their lives with this book, and not comprehend all its secrets.

The sun had risen in earnest by the time he closed it with a sigh and a spinning mind, feeling as though he might actually be ready for sleep.

As if on cue, Soma burst into his room without a knock. Ciel was about to scolding him, but something about the look on Soma's face prevented it.

"Ciel, something's really wrong with Agni." Soma's voice was low but rushed, and Ciel noticed that his hands were shaking slightly. "His wounds are…like infected, but worse. I think it poisoned him." His voice rose a few octaves towards the end, spiraling into panic.

"Tell Bard to call the doctor again. And if he can't help us, chances are this can." Ciel indicated the book.

"What is –?"

"Everything you could wish to know about demons. And then some."

.

Agni had been woken by a cool hand on his sweltering brow. Opening his eyes, Soma's face swam into focus above his own, brow knit in concern.

"You're burning up…"

"Don't…touch me." Agni managed, in a hoarse voice. "I'm unclean."

Soma's face was the very picture of alarm as he drew the blankets back from Agni's chest. Agni couldn't see what Soma did, but he assumed it looked ugly from the way Soma blanched, pressing one hand over his mouth as though to hold in a scream.

"I-I'm going to get Ciel. He'll know a-a doctor. Just wait here for a moment."

There wasn't much else he could do. Agni was slightly surprised he had even lived till morning, with how bad things had gotten the night before.

A distant part of his mind which wasn't consumed with pain wondered just how sad Soma would be if he were to die, how much damage another loss would do. Agni didn't wish to die, but he would if it meant the nightmares to stop. Visions in which all of his worst fears and darkest desires were realized, fused and braided into a fun-house mirror of depraved hallucinations in which his own reflection terrified him. Even if he did survive, he didn't know how he would live with himself.

Soma returned, with Ciel this time. Soma told him that a doctor had been summoned. Agni felt like a priest would have been more appropriate. Soma and Ciel then fell into a conversation between themselves, peppered with words unfamiliar to him. They were pouring over some kind of book…

Another lapse into darkness, and then the doctor was there, probing him with cold metal, peering into his eyes and mouth, expression grave...

Finni and Bard were moving his unresponsive body, lifting him into a stretcher. The pain of that was too great to endure.

When he surfaced once again, he was in a moving vehicle. Soma was still there. He had taken one of Agni's hands in both his own, and Agni could feel Soma's tears falling on his skin.

"My Lord…please don't cry." He said in their native tongue, not wishing others to be privy to their conversation.

"Then don't leave me." His grip tightened on Agni's hand. "Ciel thinks he might be able to cure you, if the doctors can't. But it will take some time. Just hold on for a little longer. I know you're in a lot of pain…I know I'm being selfish again, but please…" his voice broke over a sob, and the last words came out in a jagged whisper. "Please don't go."

Agni wondered if Soma would still say that, if he knew what had being going on in his servant's mind. He was losing the man he had become for Soma's sake, collapsing back into the vile corruption of his past. Agni, back down to Arshad, down into something even lower. Something subhuman. What good would it do, to live for Soma's sake, when his very life had become a betrayal?

.

The book didn't have a remedy for infections caused by demonic wounds. No, it had dozens, and therein laid the problem: which would be most effective? It was clear to Ciel already that the term 'demon' was a broad, sweeping category which encompassed many different types of supernatural creatures. There were so many horrible things they could do to the human body, everything from poison to possession, with variations depending on the type.

They didn't have time to review every single category of creature which might fit the bill of the one they had just killed. Even if he did have the time, he couldn't concentrate with Soma there, pacing, wringing his hands, asking questions to which neither of them knew the answer, as though Ciel was some sort of expert because he'd had access to the book a few hours longer.

In the end, they chose an antidote which seemed quite general. One of the simpler ones, a tonic made primarily from the powder of purified silver. The instructions on how to energetically purify it were complicated enough, and it required more ingredients aside from that one.

They reached that decision just as the ambulance arrived.

Ciel convinced the medical personnel to let Soma accompany them through a mixture of bribery and berating, and ordered Bard to follow them to the hospital. He didn't trust Soma left to his own devices out in the world, with Agni incapable of looking after him.

That left Finni to guard the house, and May-Rin. Ciel could only hope the boy didn't do more damage than good to either of the above in the time Ciel had to be away. But he had to go, and even if his servants had not been occupied, he wouldn't have trusted them to assist him in this. Sebastian was the only one Ciel had trusted with this kind of thing. Ciel could almost hear his quiet laugh, at the thought of Ciel attempting it alone.

Before Soma had left, Ciel had given him a note. Soma, of course, had stuffed it in his pocket without as much as a glance. Ciel could only hope that Soma would remember its existence eventually. It went as follows,

_Soma, _

_I'm going to see Lao – you might remember him from the first time you visited me, a tall man of Oriental extraction. He is the only one I know who might supply us with the necessary materials. _

_If I don't make it back, I've hidden that book under my pillows. Do the best you can with it on your own if you must. _

_-C. P._

.

Lao's shop was innocuous enough from the outside, just another hole-in-the wall venue selling cheap curios from the Orient. Ciel entered, gave the password to the man behind the counter, and was shown through a hidden door in the back, which led to a downward-spiraling staircase.

Ciel had briefly contemplated bringing along his small revolver, but he dismissed that option. He was going into Lao's home turf. A weapon would only serve to ignite aggression. And if it came to a fight, Ciel would lose, gun or no gun. Yet as he descended the stairs, into the haze of sickly-sweet opium fumes, he wished he had something. Sebastian's absence was so acute Ciel felt it like a missing limb. His phantom-butler, walking at his side, shielding him from all this.

The scene he walked in on filled him with a certain unwilling nostalgia. Everything in Ciel's world had been smashed and re-arranged most recently, but here Lao was the same as ever: reclining on his couch with his elaborate pipe in one hand. A bevy of wasted-looking Oriental girls clustered around him, including his alleged 'sister', Ran Mao, sitting on his lap. She was as mute and blank-faced as always.

Lao giggled. "So, so, it's true? I hardly believed it, that the Phantomhive butler vacated his post, but here you are before me, so sadly alone!"

Ran Mao slid off Lao's lap at the precise movement he made to stand. Lao approached Ciel.

"I must express my sincerest regrets at your fate. Particularly in a place like this, your abandonment is most unfortunate. A little English Lord wandering about all on his own, so sad! Who knows what terrible things might befall him?"

Lao had drawn level with Ciel now, and Ciel was reminded once again of the unfortunate height difference between them. Nonetheless, he did his best not to appear intimidated, even as he was forced to crane his neck.

"I require something of you." He drew out the written list and held it out to Lao. "A…friend of mine is going to die if this doesn't get carried through. So if you're going to kill me or hold me hostage or something of that nature, kindly do it after we've completed this transaction."

His curiosity piqued, Lao took the paper from Ciel's hand and scrutinized it. "So…" he mused. "You've gotten involved in this business. I suspected it was only a matter of time."

"Come off it Lao. I know you don't know anything."

"I know these things will not come cheap."

Ciel sighed in relief, although he hoped it sounded more like irritation. "Name your price. As I said, I'm in a bit of a bind." He found it strange, how Lao's mind has switched from threats to business so quickly. But then again, Lao was strange in every way. If he would rather extort Ciel than commit outright violence against him, Ciel wasn't going to complain.

"Have a smoke, now you're here."

"No, thank you."

"That wasn't a question. Doing so is contingent to my agreement."

Ciel stared, incredulous. "Why the hell do you want me to smoke opium? Don't you have addicts enough?"

"Oh quite. Too many, if anything."

"Then why?"

"A mark of pride. You waltz in here, alone and unarmed, and expect me to bow to your will. In exchange, you must also bow to mine."

"Did you not hear me when I said my friend was dying? Like, as we speak? I don't have time for this nonsense!"

"Time is of no consequence. All this," he motioned at the list in his hands, "will not be gathered or assembled instantaneously. But I will do both the gathering and the preparation –and all for a reasonable price – if you do this."

Ciel stared, speechless.

Lao chuckled. "You could always say no. I won't force you to do this – though I could. And you can't force me to do anything at all."

Leave it to Lao, to play such a twisted game. Of course he didn't need Ciel's money, his patronage or even his tolerance. Lao was so deeply immersed in the criminal underworld, both in England and God knew where else, that Ciel probably couldn't so much as scratch him, without Sebastian on his side.

Sebastian…

Ciel eyed the opium pipe in dismay. Would he become addicted, just from this? Was Lao planning to poison him, or do something worse while Ciel was in a vulnerable state…? But no, in this situation Lao could do all those things without having to bargain. But even if the deal was as straightforward as he presented it, Ciel nonetheless had a deep-seated horror of giving over control of his body, be it to a person or substance. Ever since all that had happened to him…

He clenched his fists. Which would be worse, doing this, or going back and telling Soma that Agni had to die, knowing all the while that he could have prevented it? In the end, it wasn't Soma or Agni who had gotten involved with demons. That was Ciel's doing, him and no other.

I'm the one who made a deal with the devil. I have no claim on innocence.

All the times Sebastian had accompanied him here, all the times he had made Ciel feel safe; this was the price, the flip side.

"No funny business while I'm…indisposed."

"Of course not." Said Lao, a little too innocently.

"I mean it. People know where I went. If something happens –"

"My sweet Ciel, why would I take any kind of advantage of you, if you do this? Making you a puppet on my strings is reward enough for me. Besides, I'm a business man. I do more or less try to keep my word to my associates."

.

Once he breathed from the pipe a few times, Ciel's trepidation faded with remarkable swiftness. He tried to hold on to the feeling, not to yield to this wave of artificial contentment, but it proved impossible. All his sorrow, his worry, the stress of the last few days seemed to fall from him, and he was so very light in their absence. He didn't care that he was lying on a dirty couch in a seedy illegal opium den surrounded by crooks, prostitutes, and illegals. As long as he could just rest here…

The walls began shining next, slowly at first, until the dingy underground room began to resemble a vividly colored palace. All the other people in the room faded to mere shadows.

He closed his eyes for a while. When he opened them again, Sebastian was sitting near the foot of the couch, watching him with a half-smile and fathomless red eyes.

"Young Master, you've been a fool."

"I didn't have much choice in the matter."

"I'm not referring to the imbibing of this…substance. Rather, it's the information you gave him which will cause you trouble."

"All he has is a recipe. He doesn't know what it is."

"You're so sure of that?"

"It's Lao. Since when does he know anything?"

"Do you imagine you're the only one of your kind who has ever had dealings with one of mine? If you must know, I'll tell you this: Lao's sister, Ran Mao, died when they were both young."

The dream seemed to darken slightly.

"…Even if that were true…even if he did know what I'm doing, why would it matter?"

Sebastian sighed, as if Ciel were struggling with an arithmetic problem.

"My kind are not wild beasts. We do have something of a society, although not in the matter of humans. It will be known that you killed a demon. Now, it will be known that you possess…information, about how to deal with us. Given your resources and history, some may regard you as a potential threat. Some among my kind might pay, to be alerted to that threat early on. The proverbial stitch in time saving nine."

"That's a clever line of reasoning." Ciel snapped, the irritation somehow touching him even through the muddle of chemical euphoria. Perhaps it was beginning to wear off. "But it's all speculation. Ran Mao is just a quiet Chinese girl, and Lao has no idea what I'm about. And you're just a hallucination anyway. You don't know anything."

"As you say. Indecently, I suggest you wake up from his hallucination before he cuts you."

"Before he –"

Ciel blinked awake, to see Lao leaning over him with a knife.

"AAGGGGGHHHHH!" Ciel scrambled backwards, falling off the couch. "WHAT HAPPENED TO KEEPING YOUR WORD TO YOUR ASSOCIATES?!"

"I'm completing the directions as ordered." Lao said cheerfully. "Apparently you didn't read it all, but it calls for the blood of a virgin and, well…" He glanced around the room at the various women. "You were the most likely candidate."

"It calls for a few drops of blood! That's a sodding butcher's knife!"

"I'm very diligent in my work."

"Just give it to me; I'll see to the blood myself, thanks."

"Alright." Said Lao, looking disappointed. "Now there's just the matter of payment.

Ciel reached into his pocket, relieved and surprised to find his checkbook still there. He wrote out the sum which Lao named, which seemed much inflated from his aforementioned 'reasonable price' but Ciel was in no mood to haggle.

Lao handed him the cure, contained in a nondescript white jar.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you, Lord Phantomhive."

Ciel bit back a scornful response, merely rolling his eyes and turning towards the door. On the threshold, he hesitated, glancing back past Lao to where Ran Mao sat on the couch, expressionless as ever. Surely she couldn't be…

She dipped her chin, ever so slightly, in a nod, those empty eyes never leaving his.

It was all he could do to keep from running up the stairs.

.

"Ciel!" As soon as he set foot in the hospital room, Soma enveloped him in a hug, which Ciel shook off irritably.

"Here." He pushed the jar into Soma's hands. "You're supposed to apply it topically to the affected areas. This had better work." He added in an undertone, more to himself than Soma.

"It will." Soma spoke more through conviction than factual assurance, but Ciel wasn't going to push it.

"Soma…before we use it, there's…I need to ask you something."

"What?" Soma asked as he unscrewed the jar.

"Have you ever…" Ciel grit his teeth. "Have you ever known a woman?"

Soma looked at him blankly. "I know plenty of women."

"No, like…intimately."

"Like really close friends?" Soma asked, his knowledge of English semantics failing him.

"No." Ciel half-groaned. "Are…you…a…virgin?"

"Oh. Yes." Soma said with a snicker. "You English are so uptight about that sort of…what are you do – OW!"

Ciel had taken Soma's hand and cut it with a small knife.

"It's for the remedy." Ciel said, taking the now-open jar and letting a few drops of Soma's blood fall into it.

"Oh. You might've warned me."

"Here." Ciel handed Soma the jar and turned towards the door. "I need to return home, and I'm having Bard drive me, so you're on your own for a while. Uh…be careful while you're here, alright?"

"Is something wrong?" Soma asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll call you when I'm home." Ciel turned in the doorway, eyes taking in Soma and Agni. "Good luck."

.

Soma reached down to pull back the thin, white hospital sheets, intending to begin with the long slice on Agni's chest. But Agni, summoning what remained of his strength, grabbed Soma's hand, preventing him.

"It's okay." Soma said quickly. "Ciel just gave me the remedy. I'm to apply it to your wounds."

"My Lord…before you do, allow me to confess." Agni spoke with closed eyes. Even the dim light in the room hurt them, and besides, he couldn't bring himself to look at Soma while he said this. And yet he had to say it.

"Confess after." Soma said, tugging against Agni's grip.

"It must be now. Then you can decide…if you wish to save my life."

He had once lived a life of deceit and lies, after all. He needed to be honest now, even if it wasn't a happy honesty. If he was flawed, corrupted…Soma deserved to know it. Agni only hoped that Soma could forgive him. He needed absolution, needed to know that Soma could know him, understand his shortcomings along with his strengths, and still accept him.

What was the point of living, otherwise?

"D-don't talk nonsense." Soma said, uneasy. "You could tell me nothing which would make me wish you dead."

"I have nothing to lose then, do I?" Something which might have been a smile showed on Agni's face, but it vanished quickly. "You understand, don't you, what that creature meant to do to you, while wearing my likeness?"

"Yes…"

"Do you remember what it said, directly before that? It spoke of…adoration…" A look of pain crossed his face. His grip tightened on Soma's wrist, his other hand clenched the bedclothes, white-knuckled.

"Agni…"

"I need to say this." He had chewed on these words endlessly, as he flickered in and out of consciousness. "Did you at any point wonder why I fell to this infection and you did not?"

Soma glanced briefly down at his own torso, where the demon had clawed him. "Luck? Who knows?" Truthfully he hadn't given it a second thought.

"It's because you're pure of heart, while I am not. The creature spoke of desire which was an abomination…" Another wave of pain seemed to grip him. "My Lord, I honor and respect you…but that is not all. The creature's evil took root in my own sin."

Soma was silent for a moment, but not a long one.

"So…you…care about me, in a certain way. Is that what you're saying?"

"…More or less. An inappropriate way."

Soma pulled his arm at last from Agni's grip with an effort. "I don't know what to say to that, except that I don't want you to die. How could you think that?"

At the moment, Soma's only care was for Agni's survival. He simply didn't have the mental energy to take on anything more, and this was so far beyond his realm of experience he had no idea how to even begin to approach it.

Agni made no answer. Soma pulled the sheet down and began to spread the tonic on the inflamed, festering wound. When he was finished with it, he glanced at Agni's face. His eyes were still closed.

"If the poison found any weakness in you that I lack, it was probably self-doubt."

Agni said nothing, possibly no longer conscious. Soma turned his attention to the rest of his wounds.

.

"So, you think Lao sold you out?" Bard asked, as he took the winding roads back to the manor at breakneck speed.

"I know that he would, if he had information and someone willing to pay for it." Ciel closed his eyes briefly, his fatigue overtaking him for a moment. "I have no idea if demons can or would pay cash for gossip, if they communicate, or are aware if one of their own dies. And I don't know whether Lao knows anything. But if he does…"

"If he does, he does. If you want my two cents, I think you did the right thing. We had a man down; there wasn't time to shop around for alternatives."

"Let's see how Finni and May-Rin are faring, before we decide."

.

The house was still more or less standing when they arrived. There was of course the charred hole in the wall of Ciel's bedroom, but it didn't seem to have grown any.

Ciel was surprised at how Bard's military experience seemed to take over. He made Ciel wait in the driver's seat of the car, with the promise that he would at least attempt to drive away if Bard gave him the signal, before advancing into the house, gun at the ready.

In the tense minutes while Bard was out of sight, Ciel alternated between imagining the horrific things which might be befalling his servants, or wondering how far he could possibly drive before he wrapped the car around a tree.

Then Bard appeared in the doorway, giving the 'all clear' signal. Ciel breathed a sign of relief and followed him inside.

.

"Just pack some clothes, enough for a few days. May-Rin, you're to be checked in to the hospital –Soma and Agni can keep you company there – and the three of us," he gestured at Bard, Finni, and himself, "will stay at an inn under a false name. It's just a precaution, but I'm not taking any chances."

They all went their separate ways to pack. Ciel was more concerned with the Necronomicon than any clothes or valuables, and was quite relieved to find it under the pillows where he'd left it. Along with the book, he filled a small suitcase with the clothes he imagined he might need. Strange, usually Sebastian helped him dress…. He kicked the half-full bag, both sad and annoyed. How was he supposed to kill monsters when he could hardly clothe himself?

.

Bard was in the kitchen when Ciel returned, loading a large assortment of guns into a duffel bag.

"Finni is helping May-Rin get her things together." Bard said, before Ciel could question the whereabouts of the other two.

"Alright. I need to make a call."

Soma was quite surprised when a nurse entered the room and handed him a telephone receiver, its cord stretched and straining from somewhere beyond the door.

"Um, a Mr. Smith for you…?"

"Oh, uh…thank you." He took the phone from her. "Hello…?"

"Don't tell them my name." Ciel's voice said on the other end. "We're officially being careful. How's Agni?"

"Still out cold…"

"I'll be there with the book in about half an hour, so if worst comes to worst we can try another –"

There came the sound of an ear-splitting crash from Ciel's end.

"Oh…my…god…"

The line went dead. Soma stared at the phone in his hand as though it had been transformed by magic into a viper.

"Sir? Is something the matter?"

.

"'I don't want you to die'? 'I don't want you to die'?! What kind of shitty response is that!?" Grell was yelling at a small, rather battered-looking television set. There were several long, intricately twisted antenna protruding from it, and on it's screen, the interaction between Agni and Soma had just played out, transmitted in real-time. "Dumb brat, ought to crawl in that bed and give him something to live for! If you won't than I -"

The door to Grell's office banged open.

"Will..." Grelle said, addressing the tall, severe-looking Shinigami who stood in the doorway. "What brings you to my - "

"You're misappropriating company resources again, aren't you?" Will said, striding over to Grell's desk and turning the television so he could see it.

"No no, it's for work, I swear!" Grell protested. "They're trying to hunt demons...not exactly our department but it's worth keeping an eye on..."

"How diligent of you." Will said drily. He adjusted the channel to Ciel Phantomhive, arching a brow at what he saw. "It doesn't seem like you'll need to keep an eye on them much longer."

Grell peered over to see what Will was looking at. "Oh my." He grinned. "Yep, we'll be collecting them soon."

.

(A/N: So I know 'Oriental' is not an okay way to describe a person, but...it's Victorian England. Thanks for reading!)


End file.
